Had this on cask over the weekend and I must say I think it was the best beer I had all weekend (at a beer festival). Pours a dark ruby/brown color with a very small head that doesn't leave any lacing on the glass. The aroma is mild, but there is a malty/caramel character as well as a slight sweetness. The flavor is much better than expected. Very well balanced. Slight caramel sweetness with a great malt character and a hint of alcohol. Drinkability is superb. The abv is a bit weak for a barley wine, but it's still an excellent brew.

A beer the color of weak black coffee, with about as much head. Sumptuous and enticing nose, gregarious with compelling tales of prune and oak, rum and evergreen, and stories still earthier: coffee, olive, tobacco, leather. There is a nice balance between three main characters here, the mellow, musty yeast; the brown bready, caramelized malts; and the herbaceous, floral hops. A lovely thing, smelling this makes my whole head perk up. No less appealing to the palate, though slightly less complex. Oak, black cherry, cocoa, anise; pleasant, warming accents on a bass line of brown sugar, brandy, and black tea. The flavors are sweet but the taste is balanced; fresh, green hops, mild tannins, alcohol heat, and sprightly carbonation keep the mouthfeel clean and the drinkability high. Well done, Adnams - this could be my new go-to Christmas beer.

Appearance: An opaque mahogany drawn from the beer engine with a tinge of ruby when held to the light. Generated a moistly creamy beige head almost as dense as a nitro-pour, but not quite as dry. Interestingly, it was almost indistinguishable when set on the table next to a Beamish, if just a touch lighter and ruddier. The head lasted surprisingly long, giving me the classic foam mustache and leaving drink rings on the side of the glass.

Smell: An envelopingly warm, malty sweetness rises from the glass, with scents of fresh-baked bread, honey, and toffee.

Taste: This hits the palate so softly, its hard to distinguish when it actually entered ones mouth. The flavor is predominantly sweet, but there is a tang that underpins the beefy maltiness, which also possesses a raisiny, plummy, fruitiness in addition to the honied sweetness. Some might find this ale a bit flabby after so many hot, raw, hoppy American barley wines, but I welcome this traditionally styled ale. The finish is long, sweet, and warming without being sickly sweet.

Mouthfeel: This is the smoothest beer Ive had in recent memory. I think I used cashmere-like in another recent review, but I pulled that trigger too soon. This barley wine is like triple-ply Scottish cashmere. The carbonation was super-fine and persistent lending this ale a substantial but not sticky viscosity.

Drinkability: Although 7% ABV no longer seems very strong, two or three of these can certainly start one on his way! I only had time for two, but a third one was definitely in the offing. Extremely drinkable for a barley wine.

Backwash: I havent been able to have an authentic English Barley Wine on cask in over 5 years, and now I feel the loss all the more! Im a bit surprised at the relatively low reviews already posted. I think its a bit unfair to lump this kind of beer in with things like Old Guardian, Old Horizontal, and Old Salty. Dont get me wrong, those are fine beers, but I can truly say that Id almost rather have something like this on hand for everyday drinking. I havent seen this in bottles here in the USA, but I doubt it would be as good anyway, as the similar Youngs Old Nick in the bottle is a shadow of its real self. Even dedicated hop heads ought to make an effort to try this very authentic English Barley Wine.

I have this as my night-cap when in Southwold, if it is available, which it often isn't. The 'Sole Bay Inn' can usually be trusted to have some, it is across the green from the brewery.

Dark and unforgiving, this rich, fruity beer is ideal as the last one before walking along the seafront and to bed. It has an aroma which brings both malt and hops together with the overtones of fresh fruits, you know you have a monster of a beer in your hand, thats for sure.

This update is from August Bank Holiday 2006. This Christmas Pudding of a beer is getting better and better. The Landlord at The Sole Bay Inn told me he always keeps two 9 Gallon Barrels from Christmas for this weekend (August Bank Holiday), I'm glad he does!

One sad note though, the dray horses that used to deliver in Southwold have been retired and will not be replaced. The horses now play in fields around the town, a packed share holders meeting was ensured they would have a long retiremnet and not be sold off to a knackers yard!

On Cask @ Mahars in Albany. I had 2- 10oz glasses - it just didnt seem right drinking it from a 20oz.
Not really much to look at, great, clear chesnut brown color with a tiny whisp of head.
Aroma is all fuity malt, some musty yeast notes with hints of chocolate and licorice. These aromas mirror the flavors to come.
Soft mouth feel up front with with a neat mix of toffee and chocolate flavors, some smokey notes and a bit of earthy hop flavor towards the finish. Rich, smooth, medium bodied "cask" mouth feel that was WAY easy to drink.
The finish is caramelized fruit with a faint hop bite, and a light, warm tickle of alcohol.
On the light side alcohol-wise, but not flavor or mouthfeel-wise. A barley wine you can enjoy 2 or more of.

A: Ruby black. Small but healthy off-white head. S: Lots of liquorice and blackberries. Smokey (or is it toasty?) and slightly nutty. A touch of dandelion and burdock.T: All the afforementioned qualities although smokier than I expected. Prickley ginger in there too. Pretty dry, especially for the strength. Earthy as it warms. Fruity aftertaste. Lovely velvety mouthfeel.O: A decent winter warmer. Bonfire smokiness, ginger and liquorice.

Enjoyed a small glass of this one at Rich-O's Public House in New Albany, Indiana, at the Ky/In BA gathering. Tally-Ho is damn near opaque sitting in the glass, but reveals a dark mahogany body when held to light. No real head, but lots of spotty lace. Aroma is thick and sweet malts, lots of dark fruits and a note of pine hops. Excellent mouthfeel is thick, rich, and coating. Full bodied. Taste is nicely balanced, with a big rum raisin component. Hops are herbal and slightly spicy. Very English in style. Alcohol is apparent, but never distracting. Excellent drinkability for this fine example of the style.

A - Dark brown with a cola-like appearance with a lighter tawny chestnut brown hue on the edges. Smaller than average bubbly beige head. Disappears fast leaving just a batch of lacing in the middle.

S - Very dark aromas. Dark rum soaked fruit provides for a lot of the aroma. Also quite prominent are toasted dark malt (hints of chocolate) and toasted caramel and molasses. Quite sweet and just a very slight hint of tartness.

T - Similar to the nose. Up front is plenty of rum soaked dark fruit (particularly raisin, fig, and date). In the background is a good dark malt base. Toasted caramel and molasses and faint toasted bread and chocolate taste. It is somewhat sweet and has a hint of tartness. Mid sip, the malt flavors come out a bit more, but the fruit flavors are still more prominent. Toward the finish, the malt flavor fad and give way to a bit of an earthy and hoppy taste. Finishes with these flavors mixing with the dark fruits in a sweet, tart, and slightly bitter taste. Alcohol has a slight presence throughout

M - On the lighter side of a full bodied beer with low carbonation (but adequate for the style). Smooth and creamy with just a touch of a drying feel.

Notes: I wasn't sure what to expect, but Adnams is a solid brewery. Fortunately this is also a solid beer. Good malt and dark fruit presences making up the majority of the flavors. Nice hint of earthy hops toward the end. Well balanced and pretty strong especially considering it is a 7% ABV barleywine. Worth trying, definitely does have a bit of an English feel.

Hand pumped into a slender 8oz. pint glass. It pours a deep ruby, almost black color with one finger of head. There is decent lacing. The smell is light, and fairly malty and sweet. The taste is full of caramel maltiness and some roasted character. Just the slightest hint of hops on the finish to balance it out. The mouthfeel is thick and smooth. The drinkability is nice for a 7% brew. A nice English barleywine.

Cola and liquorice, molasses, more dark brown sugar, some raisins. Quite sweet. Balanced with good roasted malt as well as some decent bittering and mild peppery hops. Minimal alcohol. Quite nice. A touch more in the hops dept and a few extra %abv would do it justice.

Very smooth. Low carbonation but a medium and syrupy body.

Great drinkability for the style. 7.2% is not obvious at all. Could have a few over a cold winter night.

Had this brew last evening while at Mahars. This brew was pulled from cask to a dark brown color with reddish highlights. Not much of a head but what was there was a tan in color but did not leave any lacing. The aroma from this brew was quite nice, dominant malt aroma of chocolate, dark fruit and a butter like quality. You also notice a slight alcohol type of an aroma but definitely is not strong and does not play much into the smell, this could be due to the lower 7.0% abv. Malt flavors are the strongest part of the taste as well, I notice a nice mix of flavors headed by a chocolate and toffee essence with nice undertones of dark fruit and a persistent cherry like taste in the finish, but is not sour! Not much in the way of a hop character to this brew but was not really expecting it. This was a nice brew to start the evening as we had to walk a block to Mahars and the temp registered a 1 out!

Sampled this one on cask at the Blind Tiger in NYC. Poured very dark amber, with some reddish hues, minimal tan head and decent lacing observed. Bready nose, the expected low carbonation led to a soft and smooth mouthfeel, liquid butter on the tongue. Soft notes of caramel and toffee. Finely crafted, fine British style BW

Nice almost opaque, dark ruby colour, small coffee tan head that dissipated to a thin layer with slightly sticky spotty rings. Aromas of sweet malt, dark fruits; slight spice and alcohol comes through. There's more of the same in the taste, balanced roasted malts, mollases, and some hop bitterness/spice. The alcohol isn't that present but is just slightly warming. It's smooth with low carbonation and a medium body.

This is my first barleywine and as they seem to usually be higher in abv, I'd be led to think this beer is losing something in that, this tasted somewhat like a dubbel to me.